Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is having a tough time. The company slipped it the new impositions it receives from European organizations put its survival at risk in the old continent. However, too he denies that for the moment the cessation of activities is being considered.
“We have no desire or intention to leave Europebut the simple reality is this Meta and many other companies, organizations and services rely on the transfer of data between the European Union and the United States to operate global services.“. This is Mark Zuckerberg’s company response to The Spanishwhich echoed rumors of the possible closure.
The reasons that reduce society
As Meta explains in his statement to the aforementioned media, the problem he encountered is that now Europe does not allow you to transfer the data you collect in the old continent to servers located in the United States. The international transfer of user data is the key to the profitability of your business, both in terms of operation and efficiency of the ads displayed.
To some extent this can be understood as a tactic to put pressure on the authorities with the aim of easing the new restrictions. In fact, the company has been using this strategy since 2020. The message it is sending is that according to current regulations, against its will, “we may not be able to offer many of our most important products and serviceslike Facebook and Instagram, in Europe”.
To what extent is Meta’s vitality at risk?
Meta’s annual reports reveal it that the company lost nearly a million users in 2021. This resulted in a sharp decline in the company’s share price: its value fell by more than 250,000 million dollars. Mark Zuckerberg has publicly acknowledged that the irruption of a rival like Tiktok is a challenge for his social networks and that the future lies in continuing to work on the idea of the metaverse.
As far as data mobility is concerned, Europe continues to allow the transfer of its citizens’ data to servers in some countries such as Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand or Canada. These countries are certified by the Union as compatible in terms of personal data protection. The United States, for now, is far from having this validation because, at the federal level, there is a lack of sufficient legal support to guarantee user privacy. There are states like California that have legislation compatible with what Brussels requires, but they are a minority.
So things, Meta continues to insist in his debate to ask Europe for the same conditions it has in other regions of the world. At the same time, the company of Mark Zuckerberg goes through an economic downturn and announces its intention to continue innovating to show that, contrary to what many experts and investors claim, Facebook has not peaked.
